Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

As Cycle News w as go ing to press on Monday, Ma rch 28, we received a press r ele a s e fro m th e A M A Pro Racing departm ent in regards to the protest fil ed b y Takahiro Sohwa agai ns t th e Fast By Ferracci Ducatis of Troy Corser, w h o won the AMA U .S. Sup erb ik e Nationa l Ch ampionship race at Ph oenix · In te rna t ion a l Raceway in Good yea r, Arizona , o n March 27, a nd Pasca l : Picotte. "A pro test filed by Takahiro Sohwa following completion of the U.S. Superb ik e r a ce w ill no t b e resol ved today," the release said. "The protest was ve r y complica ted a n d in volved questions regarding the en gines of the Ducati 955 ridden by Troy Cor ser and · Pascal Picotte . Specifically, questions were raised regarding the legality of the engine' s bore and s troke, overall displacement, and crankcase and cylinder castings. It was d et ermined by AMA insp ectors that the bore and stroke of the engines were legal , but it was n ot · possible to verify that th e engine castings were as the ap proved parts. A comparison to production cas tings will be · made wi thin the next several days and a d etermination will be released as soon as possible by the AMA office in Ohio. Until a co m pa riso n ca n be made, th e results from the round at Phoenix In terna ti onal Raceway will rem ain p rovisional." For complete coverage of th e race and the p rotest, see page 10. Belgian S tefa n Everts (Kaw) avenged h is first-round disappoin tment w ith a perfect 1-1 tally to score the overall win ~8enate Raineyto runRob erts Jr.'s team at round two of the 250cc World Champio nshi p Motocross Series at the Dutch G r and Prix, h e ld in s a n dy Valken s w a a r d, H olland, March 27. Co un tryman Mamicq Berv oe ts (Suz) pos te d 2-5 scores fo r second overall, with a th ir d Belg ian, Werner D e W it , (Suz) finishing 3-4 for third p lace. American Donny Schmit (Yam) and South Afri can G reg Al bertyn (Suz ) rounded . out the top five. h ree-tim e World Cham pion Wayne Rain ey (right) was an u nexp ected arrival to many observers at the first Gr and Prix of 1994, just six months after his tragic injury in the Italia n Gr and Prix at Misano . Rainey was on hand at the Aus tralian G P on March 25-27 to announce that he will be involved in GP racing full time fr om now o n , as te a m owner o f Kenn y Robe rts Jr.'s Marlbo ro-b acked team. "Racing has been my life for 24 years, an d I cou ldn't tum my back on it," Rainey said. "In the week after m y crash, Kenny (Roberts) said that an y time I was ready he wou ld have a team rea dy for me. We all thought that '95 w ould be the soone st we could do it; but as my reha b p rogressed I told him I'd like to do it this year. As a result, Ma rlboro Team Rainey has come about, and you' re gonna be seeing me at every race this year." Rainey paid tribute to the suppo rt from the fans, the press , his sponsors, "and especially Kenny and my wife Shae and famil y" that had helped with his speedy rehab ilitation. '1 felt all the time that I was getting ready for something, though I couldn't figure ou t what." Rain ey revealed th a t he had been co n tac te d s oo n aft er th e acciden t by Frank Williams, the quadriplegic Fl team owner and manager. "His ad vice was that I should get right back into it as soon as p ossible." Rainey has already ow ned a team , field in g AMA 250cc Nati onal Champion Jimmy Filice. He said that he ha d al ways hoped to run a Grand Prix team after his retirement, though events ha d pushed this forward by a couple of years. "Being a rider's kind of a selfish job. You can only look at it from your own point of view . Running a team means you have to think about a lot more, and I'm looking forward to that. Kenny Junior got off to a kin da bumpy start when he crashed in training, but he should be back for the Japanese GP. If we achieve a top-10 finish, we'll be on target. I expected to stay in the 250 class for two or three years, but the 500 class is the ultima te goal." Rainey wa s also presented with the FlM's top award - the Gold Med al of Motorcycling Merit - at Eastern Creek by F1Mpresiden t [os Vaessen. "We have all missed you since you r acciden t, and it gives us a great deal of pleasure to make this p resentation when you are back with your motorcyclin g fam ily," said Vaessen, praising Rainey's "lesson of courage an d determination." Rainey is only the nin th w inner of the award, and the third road racer. The others are An gel Nie to and Giacomo Agostini. Michael Scott T American Bob Moore (Yam ) made his re turn to the 125cc Wo rl d Champ ionshi p Motocross Series a triumphant one, secu ring the overall victory at the Itali an round in Milan , March 27. Ho lland ' s defendin g cha m p ion Pedro Tragter (Suz) wa s second overall ahead of Itali a n Mauro D e l ' Lag o (H on ), Am erican Bader Manneh (Suz) and Italian Alessio Ch io di (Hon). Rodney Smi th (Suz ) came out on top of a wet, muddy and action-packed race in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, where .the AMA Nationa l Hare Scrambles and W iseco /Yama ha /Du n l op /Brak in g . Grand National Cross Country Series combined to ho ld their third rounds on Ma rch 27. Scott Plessinger (KTM) finished a close second overall after he and Smith ma de contact and crashed in the final tum. Fred Andrews (Yam) finished third o ver a ll, bestin g Tom Norton (Ka w ) and D oug Bl a ck w e ll (Kaw) . Defending Hare Scrambles Champion Sco tt Summers' crashed while lead ing, and injured his arm . read to vote on 8.21 fter more than eight yea rs of debate, the u.s. Senate is poised to decide the fate of S.21, the controversial Californ ia Desert Pro tectio n Act, on April 11, according to theAMA. This marks the first tim e that the legislat ion has been cons id ered by the full body of the Sena te. The bill, sponsored by Senato r Dianne Feins tein (D-Ca lifomia) would close over 9.5 million acres to mo torized vehicle access in the Californi a desert by designating wilderness areas; expand ing the exis ting bo undaries of Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Monuments an d cha ngi ng their sta tus to N ational Par ks; and establishing a new , 1.46 million acre East Mojave National Park. Senate Majority Leader Sena to r George Mitchell (D-Maine) called for debate on the bill to begin on the afternoon of April 11. Democrats in the Sena te, in an ticipation of a filibuster by Republicans, plan to limi t the debate by usin g a parliamentary procedure known as "cloture." If successful, the Sena te would then proceed to vo te on 5.21 for the first time on Tuesday, Ap ril 12. The original California Desert Protection Act w as first introduced by former Senator Alan Cranston , who was un able to gain pa ssage of the bill before he retired. Senator Feins tein re-in trod uced the bill after she was eleeted to fill Cr anston 's sea t. Meanwhile, the Ho use of Representatives companion bill to 5.21 awaits the outcome of Senate action . That version, designated H.R. 518, has received ahearing but ha s yet to be vo ted ou t of committee. A Steve Hatch (Suz ) extended his lead in the National Champio nsh ip En d uro Series w ith an o ve ra ll win a t ro und three in T urkey, Te xas, M arch 27. Defending Champ ion Rand y Hawkins (Suz) tied on minutes, bu t was relegated to second pl ace on tie-breaker scores, and Jeff Russell (KTM) was a m in u te off the p ace in thi rd overall . Kevin Hines (CRE) an d Josh Whitaker (KTM) placed fou rth and fifth, respectively. Team Suzuk i Enduran ce (Suz) won the openi ng roun d of the WERA Sunoco/Performance Machi ne National Endurance Series in Talla dega , Alabama, Ma rch 26. Cycle Motion Racing (Hon) finished second overall ahead of Northwest Racing Hond a (H on). Red Ho t Racing (Yam) was four th an d H&H Racing (Yam ) was fifth. At the March 26 Tecate 250 K Enduro in .--------------------------- ------- -- --- -- -----------------------, QUID ~ SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name _ _ Address City _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ State _ _ Zip O rder Date _ Please start my subscription to Cycle News: o Every week for one year (50 iss ues) for $35.00 (can be billed 3 monthly payments) o Every week for two years. 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