Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"only" once in 1993, four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker is hungrier than ever in '94. "We had some problems last year, but hopefully we've put them behind us," said an optimistic Parker. "I' m ready to go racing, and I want that fifth title ." Parker has a firm grip on the all-time win record with 52 National wins, 12 more than Jay Springsteen, who boasts 40. "I've been training hard and I'm ready to add to that number also," said Parker. "I've been spending a lot of time on my motocrosser, and also riding my Yeti mountain bike. I'm ready, let's go." The Willow Springs Motorcycle Club has posted a $100 bonus for the first rider to beat Paul Harrell in head-to, head competition in the WSMC's Toyota Cup Unlimited F-l rac e series. Harrel has won four-straight F-1 events at the Rosamond, California, track, dating back to last December. For details on the bounty, call 805/256-1234. Harrell wasn't at the April 17 round of the Toyota Cup Unlimited F-1 Series, and the race was won by Chuck Graves (Suz) over Brad Hazen (Due) and Mark McDonald (Yam). According to WSMC, James Randolph broke the 750cc Super Stock lap record by clicking off a oneminute, 27 .67-second la p in beating Graves in that class. How seriously do the Dutch take their soccer? Seriously enough to change the schedule for the Dutch Grand Prix. The GP, normally scheduled to start at noon on June 25, will s ta rt an hour ea rli er because of a World Cup soccer game the sa m e d ay in Orlando, Florida. The match, Holland vs, Belgium, is considered the most important of the early part of the tournament to the Dutch. It will begin at 12:30 p.m. EST, 6:30 p.m. Dutch time so the racing will begin an hour earlier in order to give the GP crowd time to get home. Five-time National MX and two-time Supercross Champion Jeff Ward called to let us know of a couple of upcoming dates for his Wardy Racing Schools. Each of the classes is two d ays long, and features personal ins truction by Ward, himself. The class starts with a May 31June 1 date at New York's Diamond Back MX Park, before headingwest to Perris, California 's Perris Raceway. There, Ward will teach classes on June 6-7 and June 14-15. For more information, call 714/248-5882 . . Th e World Police Motorcycle World Road Race Championships w ill be held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Ma ns, France, May 12. Scheduled to carry the American flag at the event are Rick Shaw of the Metro-Dade County (Florida) Police Department, Charles Price of th e Sacramento (California) Police Department and David Hirsch from the Gal veston (Texas) Police Department. The race will see 30 officers from around th e g lobe compete ab oard ide n ticallyprepared Honda CBR600s. Law enfo rcement or corrections officers interes ted in competing in the event should contact Rick Shaw at 305/258-5234. Hot on the heels of WERA's announcement of the cancellation of the August 57 Pro Series event at Pocono international Raceway, comes the anno u nceme n t th at th e Team Suzuki Endurance ' Advanced Riding School w hich was scheduled to be runin conjunction wi th the ra ce o n Au gu s t 4-5 has been reshceduled for Augus t 17 a t Bridgehampton Raceway in Long Island, New .Yo rk .' For more info rmation call ' 909/245-6414. Jeff Swan rep orts that he has take n over the position of president of the Riders of Vision club, and that he wou ld like to hear from current and past members, as well as from any Yamaha Vision riders who are interested in joining. Interested p arties should contact Swan at 1700 Johnston, Liberty, MO 64068; 816/ 7812883. It's that time of year again, and the Isle of Man IT will again route daring road racers on the Isle of Man on Jun e 8. This year, Costa Mesa, Ca lifo rnia ' s Mark Cernicky will compete in the 400cc Supersport class aboa rd a Suzuk i RGV250 . Another Am er ican who has , en tered is Californian Craig McLean, who will race the four-l ap Supersport 600cc race on a Honda CBR600. Mclean , who ra ced last year, will al so pilot a Rotax in the Singles TI. The Over the Hill Gang Bay Area Chapter is holding an open motocross practice day on the Grand Prix track at the Hollister Hills SVRA in Hollister, California, May 7. The track will be prepped and watered by Motowest. Although the course w ill be open for general practice between 9:00 a.m , and 3:00 p .m., separate OTHG practice sessions will begin a t 10:30 a.rn, The ga te fee is $10, a nd oruG m embers m ust pay an additional $5 in the oruG pit area. For more information call 415/6170845 or 408/248-7303 . Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki West, a Tampa, Florida, multi-line de alership , and American Honda will host their 3rd Annual Charity Poker Run to benefit the Brain,Tumor . Foundati on for Children, May 1. A $10 donation per person is requested, and all proceeds will be donated to the charity. For more information call 813/968-788 or 800/237-3599. Road racing guru Keith Code recently returned from Monterrey, Me xico, where he held riding and racing schools . The classes were covered by Mexico's largest newspaper, EI Norte, and featured on syndicated television. Code has also run schools in Guatemala and Aus tralian and he plans on ins tru cting stu dents in South Africa, as well . The AHRMA Vintage Iron National MX, scheduled for Ap ril 24 at Sand Hill Ranch in Bren twood, Californi a, is , expec ted to attract such famous former racers as Don Castro, Danny "Magoo" Chandler, Doug Grant, Bill Grossi , John Hateley and Tom Rapp. The prog ra m o n Saturday, Ap r il 23 w ill b e d ev oted to an AH RMA Vintage Tri al,' w ith the motocross taking place on Sund ay, April 24. Th is year's MX is preen try only; it is not necessary, ho wever, to pre-enter the trial. Racer /promoter Jim Holley called to let us kn ow that ther e w ill be no gate fee for riders who come from over 150 miles away to attend round two of the CMC North Spring Classic Series a t Ca rso n City, Nevada's Silver State Racewa y on A p ril 24 . For m ore in formatio n call 702/267-4392. Unde rstandably, off-road legend Larry Roeseler likes to g e t away fr o m th e wo rld of motorcycle racing every once in a while. What do es he do w hen he. g ets a rare weekend off? He races trucks, o f course . Ro esel er h as been partnerin g with Kurt Le Due, first at two local LaRana off-ro ad races, and m ost Blackwater 100 on hold The Monongahela Power Company, owner of one of the East's most popular riding areas, closed its land in the Canaan Valley, home to the famous Blackwater 100 cross co~try race, to off-highway 'motorcycles, ATVs and mounta in bikes, citing "growing en vironmental concerns" as the reason. A public notice from the Monongahela Powe r Company reads: All-terrain vehicles, bicycles and any other unauthorized vehicles will no longer be permitted on Monongahela Power Company' s properties in Canaan Valley and the surrounding area. ' As a result, Racer Prod uctions, the promoters of the Blackw ater 100 race, held near Davis, West Virginia, has been forced to "tentatively cancel" this year's event, scheduled for Jun e 19. . .. "Monongahela has worked diligently to be a 'good neighbor' to the citizens of Tucker County, allowing virtually unrestricted use of our properties in the Cana an Valley area for recreational purposes," said Monongahela pre sident Benjamin H. Hayes in a prepared statement. "But growing environmental concerns have caused us to re-evaluate our policy and restrict vehicular traffic in the area." According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the "envi ronmental concerns" cited seem to stem largely from a recentl y published report by state and fede ral agencies. A monitory study on th e Blackwater River during last year's Blackw ater 100 fou nd "severe water quality problems ." The compan y's decis ion leaves West.Virginia with virtua lly no public rid ing areas and only wh atever priyate land is available to local riders who kno w where to go. State lan ds hav e been closed for a number of years and the Monongahela National Forest d oes not permit OHV use. As far as the Blackwater 100 race is concern ed, Davey Coombs Jr., of Racer Prod uctio ns, feels fairly certain that the June 19 race will go off as scheduled. "We' re hoping to get special authorization and lea se the valley for th e weekend," sai d Coo mbs. "It is true, ho wever, at this moment, the race is cancelled, bu t d on't give up hope ye t." If the Blackwater 100 does go off as plann ed, it will be the event's 20th anniversa ry and the eigh th stop on the AMA Wiseco/Yamaha/Dunlop Grand National Cross Country Series circu it. recently a t the April 1-3 Nevada 400. The duo finished th ird overall in the first race, and were lead ing the second race when they bro ke down. In Nevad a, they finished seven th in class after suffering m echanica l g remlins. "I'm just kind of getting !JlY feet wet," says Roeseier. "T his is so m ethi ng I' ve always wanted to d o. Before the (Baja) 1000 I bought an old pre-runner that I'm fixing up, but it's not re ady to race yet. I' ve always kep t in to uc h with (f orme r Na tiona l Hare & Hou nd Champion) Dan Smith, and he keep s me updated . (Smith now races trucks off-road) . I'm able to get throw-awa y parts from some of the teams. Eventually, I'd love to get into so mething. A lot of it relates to bikes. The s uspension is so good tha t you can dri ve s mar t and work the whoops like on a mo torcycle." The Mickey Tho m pson En terta in ment Gro up has cancelle d its six-race Sports; man Off-Road Racing Series. The first race of the se ries was held at the Glen Helen OHV Pa rk in San Bernard in o, California, on Ma rch 20, with five more races scheduled to be ru n at the sa me facility. The a nn ou ncem en t co mes as part of a major restr ucturing move by MTEG, one that has seen the addition of Danny Th ompson (so n of late MTEG found er Mickey Thompson and Grand National Sp or t Truck co m petitor) as President. "This move allows us more time to focus on the Mickey Thompson Stadium Off-Road and AMA Supercross series, as well as fu ture motorsp orts ventures such as our recently pr od uced arenacross held at the Arrowh ead Pond of Anaheim," Thompso n said. California Governor Pete Wilson will be the ma in speak er at the Ca lifornia OffRoad Vehicle Association (CORVA) 25th Annual Convention on Sat urday, April 30, in San Diego, California. Wilson will address the Desert Protection Act (S.21) and how it can impact the sport of offhighway vehicle recreation. The general public is invited to attend and you don't have to be a CORVA member. The conven tion will take place at the Handlery Hotel, wi th Wilson's speech scheduled fo r 1:15 p .m . o n April 30 . For m ore information call 800/ 422-6782, ext. 503. HIRED: Gilberto Gentilli, by AGV Helmets of Ita ly. A g radua te o f th e USC school of law , Gentilli worked for Bieffe from 1989 until the p resent while also serving as the Presid ent of Bell Motorcycle Europe. Gentilli' s responsib ilitie s w ill include various legal issues relating to product liability control, qua lity control, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, sponsorships and contracts. APPOINTED: Ken Ciocci, as New England Sales Manager for Spectro Oils of America. HIRED: Ron Barrick, as Road Racing Compe tition Adm in istrator fo r the AMA's Sports Marketing Department. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Arling,ton Suzuki in Arlington, Texas, Ap ril 22 from 6:00p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Team Suz uki's Ezra Lusk , Jimmy Button, Brian Swink and Phil Lawren ce are shed uled to ap pear. For more info rmation ca ll 817/261-0706 . AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Michael's Su zuki/Honda /Kawasaki in Carson City, Nev ada, Ap ril 22 from 6:00p.m. to 8:00 p .m. Team Suzuki Off-Road riders Guy Cooper, Rodney Smit h an d Rand y Hawkins are scheduled to appea r. Also expected are Kawasaki Team Green's Ty Da v is and D anny Ha mel. Fo r m ore informa tion call 702/ 883-6111. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Cen tr al Yamah a in Plan o, Texas, April 22. Team Nolee n/Yamaha/Sizzler rid er s Larry Ward and Larry Brroks, as well as NCY ride r Jeff Matiasevich are sched uled to -:t< appear. For m ore infor ma tion ca ll 0\ 214/423-4089 . ~ CORR ECTIO N: The April 30 Lorre tta Lynn's Na tional New York Area MX Qua lifier will be held at Mo to Mas ters Park in Mexico, NY, no t at Thund er Ridge Cycle Park. For more information call 607/847-6520. Continued on page 67., ..... ..... l-< ~ 3

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