Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:. ":.~ .. I Fonner 125 and 250cc World Champion Donny Schmit (Yam) scored the win at the ope ning round of the 250cc World Ch ampi on ship Mo to cross Series in Talavera d e la Reina, Spain, March 20. Riding an all-black Chesterfield YZ250, the American turned in 3-1 moto scores to defeat Fre nc h m a n Yves DeMaria (Hon), who fi n is hed seco nd in bo th motos. Round ing out the top five were defending champ Greg Albertyn (Suz), from Sou th Africa, Italian Andrea Bartoli ni (Yam) and America n Trampas Parker (KTM). Belgian Stefan Everts (Kaw ) was leading both m otos, but broke a hub in moto one, then, in the second outing, he lost his kickstart lever and was una ble to restart his bike after stalling . Randy Hawki ns (Suz) narrowly held off Rodn ey Sm ith (Su z) to wi n the first round of the AMA National Reliab ility Endu ro Se ries in Arkansas ' Ozark National Fores t, March 19-20. Hawkiris bested his teammate by less tha n three seco nds over th e two d ays of racing. Unofficial results have Fred Hoess (H us), Duane Conner (Yam) and Steve Hatch (Suz) filling out the top five. Vance & Hines Yamaha's Jamie James will ride a Yamaha YZF600 for the entire AMA /CCS 600cc Supersport Se ri es, according to Yam aha. James, w ho finished third behind Smokin' Joe's Racing's Mike Sm ith and Mu zz y Ka wasaki's Steve Crevier in the YZF's debut race at Da ytona International Sp eedway on March 13, will attempt to win the 600cc title, while also racing for the AMA U.S. Sup erb ike Series crown on his Yamaha YZF750 Superbike. "I wen t to Yama ha after Daytona asking to race the YZF600 for the en tire season because I was so im p r essed with the power a nd handling," James said. v''Pinishing th ird in our first race is just the beginning. With a littl e fine tuning from Jim Leonard and the Vance & Hines crew, we feel we will have a competitive year." James's Vance & Hines teammate Colin Edwards II will not compete in the 600cc series, but will concentrate his efforts solel y on th e superbike series. Australian road racer Mat Mladin , the 22-year-old who rode a factory Cagiva in the World Championship Road Race Series in 1993, won the opening round of the Australian Superbike Championship on March 6. Mlad in, wh o was let go by the Ca giva team, rode an Akai-back ed Kawasaki to the pole position, two race wins an d a new lap record at Sandown International Raceway in Melbourn e. It was a Kawasa ki sweep a t th e GNC Finals, held at Lake Whitney Cycle Park in Wh itney, Texas, Mar ch 18-20. Kevin Windham (Kaw ) s wep t th e 125 a n d 250cc Exper t classes . Casey Johnson (Kaw) and Roy Schellenberger (Kaw) finished second and third , resp ectively, in th e 250cc class, and swa pped those p ositi ons in th e 125cc d ivision . Jeff Willoh (Kaw) was the d ominan t Intermediate class ride r, sweeping the 125cc Stock, 250cc Stock and 250cc Modi fied Inte rmediate classes with ease. Willoh crashed in the 125cc Mod ified Intenned iate class, leaving the win to Billy Akers (Kaw ). Ricky Carmichael was the mini class her o, toppin g th e 12-13 year -old Stock and Mod ified , and 7-16 yea r-old Open Mini classes . ets afacelift rack pr eparations for the upcoming AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship round to be held at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, were started the week of March 14. Pavin g contractors have re-paved the 2.I-mile, 13-turn race track that will host the LA Superbike Championship on Ap ril S-l0 . Photo by Race West Productions, Inc. T More on th e single-shocked HarleyDavidson XR7S0 frame tha t is bein g d eveloped by former Grand Na tio nal Champion Chris Carr: the Terry Knightbuilt chass is incorporat es the use of a White Power shock, and will be available some tim e inthe near future. "Our test resul ts at the Barberville races d uring Bike Week we re favorable, " said Carr. "What we are hoping to accomplish is to des ign a chassis that will hook up in the apex of the comers better on rougher or slicker tracks. We've been working wi th Jim Lewis of White Bros., and he has the shock dia led in pr etty we ll. The (Ap ril 23) Sacramento Mile will be the big test. We know that we can win with our other chassis, but we want to give the singleshocker a fair shake." Carr added that he plans to use the new chassis at both mile and half-mile races. envelope to ETDE, 9446 Gu ilford Ave., Whittier, CA 90605. En tr ies are now open for the Jul y 4t h running of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb "Race to the Clouds." The Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb Educational Museum, the organizers of the event, have limited the motorcycle / ATV field to 85. For more information call Bill Brokaw at 719/473-3277. German Bernhard Schick, the man who crashed on the front s tr a ig h taw ay a t Daytona International Speedway during the Daytona 200, prompting the stoppage of the ra ce, is recovering in Daytona Beach, Florida. Schick's main injuries were damage to ligaments in his knees and also some ligament damage to a thumb. Schick reports that a lot of American fans have sent him letters and have called him, and he thanks them all. Montesa and Gas Gas motorcycles have announced that they will donate one new trials motorcycle to the EI Trial de Espana Raffle to be held on May 1 at the ETDE at Perris Raceway in Perris, Californ ia. Funds raised by the ETDE raffle will go to support the U.S. Trial des Nations team at the 1994 Trial d es Nati ons in Andorra. Tickets will sell for $1 each or $10 per book. To obtain raffle tickets, send a self-addressed stamped In our coverage of the AMA/CCS 750cc Supersport fina1 at Daytona International Speedway, we incorrectly reported that the Kawasaki raced by Sport Rider magazine's Lance Holst was prepared by Rob Muzzy, when in fact it was Jake Van Vleet who s p u n the wrenches on the bike. Holst, who finished 13th at Daytona, will be racing the Rob Muzzy support bike again at Phoenix International Raceway on March 26. Cadalora uick inIRTA test arlboro Yamaha's Luca Cadalora (right) was the fastest of the 500cc Grand Prix riders during the final shakedown test for the Australian Grand Prix on March 27. The Italian circu lated the Eastern Creek circuit near Sydney, Australia, in oneminute, 30.86-seconds on Sunday, March 20 - just one week prior to the season opening Australian GP. The second fastest rider in the two-day IRTA test sessio n was John Kocinski. The factory Cagiva rider lapped in 1:30.97, just ahead of Honda Team HRC's Mich ael Doohan's 1:31.28. Luc ky Strike Suzuki' s Alex Barros, Honda Team HRC's Sh inichi Itoh, Marlboro Yamah a' s Daryl Beattie, Ducados Honda's Alberto Puig, Hond a Team HRC's Alex Cri ville, Ca g iva 's Doug Chand ler and Slick 50's Niall Mackenzie rounded out the 10 fastest 500cc testers. Lucky Strike Suzuki's Kevin 5chwantz, the defending 500cc World Champion, didn't ride during the two-day session becau se he is still recovering from the broken ann he suffered recently after falling off his mountain bike. 5chwantz, though, is expected to compete in the GP on March 27. Italian Loris Capirossi was the fastest of the 250cc testers, circulating in 1:31.78 on his Marlboro Team Pileri Honda NSR250. HB Racing Italy's Doriano Romboni was second fastest at 1:32.08, with Tadayuki Okada third on the Kanemoto Honda at 1:32.46. Defending World Champion Tetsuya Harada was fifth fastest at 1:33.00 on the Yamaha Motor France TZM25O. M -.:t< 0\ 0\ rl White Bros. and WP Suspension are offering a contingency program for Willow Springs Motorcycle Oub road racers, offering awards in 600cc SuperStock, 600cc Modified Production, 650 Superbike and Formula One. Pr izes will be awarded in certificate fonn - $75 for first place , $50 for second and $25 for third . For more information call Marcus Falley I, at 714/692-3404, ext. 245. I I I I The Aammini Group has announced that both Ford and Sa rema will be the title sponsors of the World Championship Superbike Series in 1994. Sarema, an Italian cash register manufacturer, joins Ford, who backed the series las t year. "Ford has faith in the superbike championship and we are very proud of that ," said Paolo Alberto Flammini, sales manager of the Aammini Group. "As a matter of fact, Ford is now the third (largest) car manufacturing company in the world and is very strong on the European, the U.S. and the Southern American market. The World Superbike Championship has now a wide television coverage both in Italy and abroad since top riders take part in it. That is the reason why Ford has decided to increase its sponsorship for the racing season 1994." Promoters for the March 26-27 running of the Glen Helen/Prairie Dog Grand Prix have lowered the entry fee for the exhibition night race to be held on Saturday, March 26 at the Glen Helen OHV in San Bernadino, California. The fee has dropped to $15 and the night race class winners will receive a Glen Helen season pass. Southeastern Sportbike will conduct their first open track practice of the year on Saturday, April 16 at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway. For more infonnation call 404/984-2606. Harley-Davidson recently donated $100,000 to the National Motorcycle Safety Fund - the largest-ever contribution in the fund's 14-year history. Money contributed to the National Motorcycle Safety Fund is used to support the programs of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation . ' The Coors Extra Gold Freedom Ride will be held in Colorado on Sunday, June 26. The ride will combine three rides, one in metro Denver, one in southern Colorado and one in northern Colorado, that will benefit the Muscular Dy strophy Assoc iation. For more information call the MDA at 303/691-3331. Indian Motorcycle Illustrated, the world's only magazine devoted to Indian motorcycles, will change frequency and now be published quarterly, according to TAM Communications, Inc., the magazine's publisher. Vintage Motorcycle Days 1994, the AMA's annual celebration of the history of motorcycling in America, will be held in Powell, Ohio, on July 22-24.The event w ill feature three da ys of activity only minutes awa y from the AMA's Westerville, Ohio, office and the Motorcycle Heritage Museum. For more infonnation call Bruce Truxall at 614/891 -2425.

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