Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Ronny Weustenraed or 'New Zealander Shane King, despite the fact that bo th will ri de H onda CR 500s. The two have re moved any referen ce to Honda from their bikes in protest of th e japansese m anu fact u rer's re fu sa l to assist their efforts, and have applied to the FIM for a constructor 's license under the name FVM (Feitelijke Vereini gung Missotten) . It is unlikely tha t a license will be granted, but even if it is not, they can stil l call their b ikes what they want and thus d en y Honda any points. Dutchman Edwin Evertsen unexpectedly turned up for the Dutch GP aboard the Geboers H RC Hon da CR250 . Eve rtsen reinjured his sho ulder d uring qualification at the presious week's opening round in Spain and was unable to com pete, In Sp ain, Evertse n fell on his still-he aling shoulder and ben t a p in that had beensurgically implanted a while bck. A Belgian docto r refused to operate on his re-injured sho ulder, but a Dutch surgeon agreed to do so on the Wednesday before the Du tch GP and replaced the bent pin with a new one. Evertsen qualified 19th for the GP bu t failed to score any points on the day. Belgian Jacky Ma rtens, th e d efen d ing 500cc World Motocross Cha mpion, will wa it at least one mo re season before fitting his Husqvama four-stroke with the electronic ignition system Cagiva hasbeen testing. The Ducati-developed system performed well in tests, but was designed for road bikes, and its durab ility was qu estionable under motocross conditions. The GP series' new two-mote form at means fewe r motos in which to earn points, so M artens cannot aff ord to fake any chanc es, though the ignition will likely be tried again next year. However, Martens will likely use another bit of technology on his Husky - a power-valve! The valve, a ra ri ty on four-stroke en gines , would reside in the ex h a ust sys te m and is designed to stick open in the event of a failure. On the subject of four.stroke GP technology, the Vertemati of Belgian Joel Smets will feature a "casse tte" gearbox. With the special transmission, both main shafts can be rep laced within 20 minutes, with out t he engine b e in g remo ved from the frame. Swede Jorgen Nilsson was a specta tor at the Dutch roun d of the 250cc MX World Championship on March 26. Nilsson, the runner-u p in the 1993 Wo rld Ch arnp ionship 500cc MX Series, is well on th e road to recovery after crashing and suffering spinal in juries fou r mon ths ago in Stuttgart, Ge rma ny. "I wa nted to show people h ow well I'm getting on, " said N ilsson . "Although I'm using sticks to walk around, I can walk without them and I can jump in the air . I was released fro m the hospital on Friday last w eek, though I sti ll go back as an out-patien t every day." The Friday before the Dutch GP, Nilsson sat on a bike for the first time since h is accident and rode it a rou n d briefly, but he will no t race this year . "The doctors have told me tha t the bones will have knitted together well enough in two mo nths from now for me to ride around, but they have said that I must not jump on a bike until 12 months after the accident." Nilsson has little feeling below in chest. The Swede will also attend th e openi ng ro u nd of the World Championshi p 500cc MX Series in Payerne, Switzerland, where he will be filmed for a documentary on his recovery. , Bob Moore recently signed with FMF Racing and will use Gold Series exhaust pipes in his 12Sec World Cha mpionship bid, though the deal wasn't just a ma tter of signin g on the dotted lin e. Mo ore's Rin aldi Yama ha team owner, Michele Rinaldi, is extre mely p articu lar about which parts are used on the team machine ry, and a ll p arts are s ubje ct to h is approval. For political reas ons, the FMF pipe had to be more than just a little better tha n those of five other manufacturers inclu ding some of the top Ita lian pipemakers - tested by the team. Apparently, it was. Whittier Power Sports Center, a multiline motorcycle and watercraft dealership in Whittier, California, has added Suzuki to their list of brands offered. For more information call 310/945-3494. Despite non -relen ting ridi cule and outright lack of enth usiasm from his fellow editors, Cycle News assis tant ed itor Scott Rou sseau went ou t and finished second in the Suppo rt B Class during the seasonopening speedway event at the Or ange . County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. The staff is busy thinking up a nickna me for Rousseau, but seem somewhat stuck on "Sudden Scott" - although that moniker has alread y been taken by a speedway racer wi th more impressive credentials. AM A Su p erb ike N ational Champ ion Doug Polen is currently in Japan, testing the 1994 Honda RC45 superbike at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City. Polen will attempt to win his third World Superbike Championship when the se ries gets underway on May 1 at Donington Park. As of last mo nt h, the provisional list of entra nts for the 1994 Wo rld Championship Superbike Series consis ted of 28 riders. Thirteen of th ose riders w ill be mounted on Ducatis, four of whi ch will be the new Ducati 916; six riders will ride Kawasaki's ZXR75O; eight will be aboard Honda RC45s; and one rider, Mauro Lucchia ri, will rid e a Yamaha YZF750. Two Americans will contest the series, defending World Champion Scott Russell and two-time champion Doug Polen. Fourteen riders hail from Italy; four are British; two are from New Zealand; two come . fro m Belgium; one is from Austria and one is from Australia; there is also a lone German en trant. Five-time AMA National Hare & Hound Champion Dan Smi th and his wife Rho nda have a new additi on to their family Jacob Daniel Smith was born on March 12 in Riverside, California. According to Dan Smith, Rhonda was in labor for over two days! " 1 would rather ride the Baja 1000 standing on my head th ree tim es before going throu gh all of that again," said the motorcycle-turned-off-road tru ck racer. "The whole ord eal was like being in a three-day-long plan e crash, but bo th Rhonda and Jacob are doing fine and, I'll tell ya, in the end, it is well wo rth it." Spealcing of Dan Smit h, he competed in the April 1-2 running of the SCORE Nevada 400 (formerly the Mint 4(0) and scored the Class 8 d ivision win, finishi ng third overall. Team Yamaha's Mike Craig had his shoulder examined by his d octor the Monday following the March 26 Charlotte Supercross, where he with drew from the night's program after injurin g his left sho ulder when he landed hard over a triple jump. According to Cra ig's wife Joanna, "...the shoulder popped out and went back in (in Charlotte) but d oesn ' t require su rgery. He's alw ays had problems with it (the shoulder); it's loose and pops out and in every once in awhile. He says it's sore bu t he plans on racing the next round (pontiac, Michigan on April 9)." Motocrosser Marc Tiesler recently woke up to find that both his Honda CR250S had been stolen from his garage in Holland , Pe nn sylv an ia . On e w a s a 1994 model and the other a '93. The YIN numbers' are JH2NE03OXRM602318 for the '94 CR and JH2NE0302PM502680 for the '93. If anyone has any inform ation as to the whereabouts of these motorcycles, please call Tiesler at 201/357-3495. A rew ard is being offered . Team Honda/l-800-eOLLECT's Jeremy McGrath must win five of the remaining six rounds in the Camel Supercross Series if he is to break his own record of 10 wins in a single season. McGrath has won six of the first nine rounds, or 67% 9f the races, but to meet his goal hell have to win 83% of the rema ining rounds. With his win at the Turkey, Texas, round of the AMA Nat ional Enduro Championship, Team Suzuki's .Steve Hatch ha s now won five of the last eight rounds. H atch came on strong at the end of last se ason, winning th ree of th e las t five endures, and has continued the surge by winning two of the first three events this year. The h ot streak began at ap p roxima tely the same time Ha tch graduated from college. Apparently, a good education helps even in the profession of motorcycle racing. AUTOG RA PH SIGNIN G: At Cen tral Yamaha in Plano, Texas , on April 22. Team Noleen/Sizzler/Yamaha rid ers Larry Brooks, Larry Ward and Kyle Lewis, and Team No rth County Yamaha riders Tommy Clow ers, Mike Metzger and Don a ld Up ton a re sc hed uled to appear . Fo r more in form a ti on call 214/423-4089. AUTO G R APH SIGNING: A t Forest Lane Yamaha in Garland, Texas, on April 22 from 6:30 p .m . to 8:30 p .m . Tea m Yamaha's Jeff Ernig an d Michael Craig are scheduled to appear. For more information call 214/276-5026. AUTO G RA PH S IGNING: At Plano Honda in Plano, Texas, on April 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Team Honda/l-800COLLECT riders Jer em y McGrath, Jeff Stan ton, Steve Lamson an d Doug Henry are sched uled to appea r. Also expected to appear are AXO 's Me rced es Gonzales, ESPN 2' s Jerry Bernardo, Miss Coors Light Darby Daniels and Sco tt USA's Bevo Forte. For more in for ma tio n call 214/ 422-4703. CORRECTION: Stu Morrison and Steve Tes chke were th e riders for Team Red Baron, the fifth-place finishing team in the Middleweight Team Challenge at Ph oenix International Raceway on March 26. APPOINTED: Rob Lop ez as director of community affairs and public relations, by Sears Point Raceway. Lopez w ill be responsible for genera ting publi city about racing evens and releasing general news stories regarding the ra ce track and its community involveme n t. He will also contribu te to th e raceway 's quarterly newspaper. PROMOTED: Da ve Larson to buy er /a na lyst for sp or ts and ca sual apparel in the parts and accessories division at Yamaha Motor Corporation USA Larson was formerly an access ory sales representative. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Burnsville Yamaha in Burnsville, Minn esota on April 15 from 6:00 p .m . to 7:30 p .m. Team Yamaha 's Jeff Ernig and Michael Craig are scheduled to appear. For more information call 612/882-1020. AUTOGRAPH SIG NING: At Anderson Sales and Servic e in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on April 8 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p .m . Team Su zu ki' s Brian Sw in k, Ezra Lusk, Jimmy Button and Phil Lawrence are scheduled to appear. For mo re information call 313/ 858-2300. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Mountain Motorsports in Ontario, California, on April 8 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Team Su z uki's Bri tt Tu rk in gton, Thomas Stevens, Donald Jacks and Tom Kipp are sched uled to appear. 909/988-8988. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Montclair Yamaha in Ontario, California, on Ap ril 7 from 7:00 p.m to 8:30 p.m. Vance & Hines Yamaha 's Jamie Ja m es and Colin Edwards U are scheduled to appear. For more information call 909/628-4748. HIRED: Bob Weber as vice president of marketing and sales at DG Perfo rma nce Specialties. NAM ED: Joseph Dagley, Noel Parsons and Neil Potts as motorsports district sales managers by Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA. Dagley will be res ponsible for dealers in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Mary land, Delaware and dealers in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia . Parsons will call on dea lers in the Carolinas and parts of Georgia and Tennessee. Potts will be res ponsib le for dealers in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Neb raska and South Dakota . MOVED: MS Racing to 252 Grani te St., Corona, CA 91719. The new phone numbe r is 909/340-3301 and the fax is 909/279-7678. AUTOGRAPH SIG NING : At Bob ' s Cycle Supply in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 15 fro m 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and on April 17 from 11:00a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Stanton, Jeff Emig, Phil Lawrence, Jeff Matiasevich, Tea m Noleen/SizzIer/Xtreme and Team Splitfire/ Ho t Wheels are scheduled to appear. For more information call 612/482-9526. PROMOTED: Mark Speaks, general manager of motorsp orts sales and marketing of Yamaha Motor Corp., U.s.A., to vice president of Yamaha's Parts and Accessories Division (YPAD); Dennis McNeal to nation al sales manager, Motorsports and Outdoor Power Equ ipment (OPE); Rit Lefranco is to general manager of mo torcy cle, ATV, scooter and snowmobile mark eting; Ed Burke to divis ion manager for product planning and testing for mot or cycl es , ATVs and scoot ers : and Mark Porter to assistan t division manager of motorcycle testing. CO RRECTIO N: Grand National Cross Country Champion Fred Andrews was riding a Yamaha WR250 and not a Yamaha YZ250 in the Sumter, South Carolina, event on March 13. OPEN HOU SE: At the Dan Rou it FIattrack Museum in Clo vis, California, on ~ Sunday, May 8 from 10:00a.m. 1 05:00 p.m. ~ ~ M OVED: Electronic Motorcyclists Inc., the operator of The Motorcycling Round . Table on GEnie. The general office is now located at 3938 E. Gra nt Rd., Suite 265, Tucson, AZ 85712-2559, 602/326-0792; and the racing office is now located at 2210 WJ1shire Blvd., Suite 583, Santa Monica, CA 90403-5784, 310/306-7512 0

• Cover