Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Ty Davis (Kaw) won round three of the AMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series in Minden, Nevada, on April 23-24. Danny Hamel (Kaw) was second overall while Rodney Smith (Suz) and Larry Roeseler (Kaw) tied for third overall with identical scores; Greg Zitterkopf (KTM) was fifth. Englishman Doug Lampkin (Bet) scored his first-ever win at round two of th e World Championship Observed Trails Series, held at Hoghton Towers, Eng land, on May 24. For Lampkin, the son of 1975 World Champion Martin Lampkin, the win was extremely.popular - he topped all of the top Spanish rid ers, in his home country. Marc Colomer (Bet) was second, while Jordi Tarres (G-G), Joan Pons (G-D) and Angel Garcia (GG) rounded out the top five. First-round winner Tarres continues to lead the series point standings with 35 po ints. Colomer is second with 32, and Lampkin moved into third with 28. Fred And rews (Yam) won round four of the AMA Grand National Cross Country Championship in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, April 24. Finishing second was Scott Plessing er (KTM), with Th omas Norton (Kaw).in third. Doug Blackwell (Kaw) and Duane Conner (Yam) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Belgian Stefan Everts (Kaw) aced both motos of the third 250cc World Motocross Championship round in Montevarchi, Italy, on April 24. South Africa's Greg Albertyn (Suz) was second overall with 2-3 moto scores, and American Tyson Vohla n d (Hon) finished third. Rounding out the top five finishers were Brit Rob Herring (Kaw) and Frenchman Fred eric Bon ey (Yam). Four-strokes ruled round two of the 500cc World Motocross Championship in Sittendorf, Austria, on April 24, where the Vertemati team scored its first overall win. Belgian J oel Smets (Ver) did the honors by topping both motes, and fellow countryman Jacky Martens (Hus) was second on another fourstroke. Swede Marcus Hansson (Hon) was third ahead of Austrian Sieg fried Bauer (Kaw) and Dutchman Gert Jan Van Doom (Hon). New Zealand's Darryl King was back on a Kawasaki in Austria, after crashing his Honda at the first round. "I wasn't happy with the Honda," .he said. "I've ridden Kawasakis for eight years, and the crash I had at Switzerland would never have happened on a Kawa. " King is using bikes which were originally bought for fellow De Ring team member Rud i Van Leeuwen, and have been idle since the Belgian decided to stay on Hondas. . Ron Lechi en failed to show at the 500cc GP in Austria, despite the fact that a hotel had reservations under his name. Organizers had not been notified of his withdrawal from the race. Austrian Karl Sulzer will miss the next two SOOcc GPs in Irelan d and England, as he recovers from the broken leg he su ffer ed at th e sta rt of the seaso n . " I ha ve never scored an y points in th e British sand GP s a n yw a y," he said . When he returns, Su lzer will be riding with a small "1/2" symbol next to the "11" on his number plates. "Eleven is my unlucky number," Sulzer explained. "I've had 11 four times, and every time I crashed and hurt myself. " The April 23 Val voline/Krager Auto Parts Sacramen to Mile in Sacramento, California, was rained out and rescheduled for April 30. "It was a tough weekend," said event promoter Chris Agajan ian. "We saw that the rain wasn 't going to let up, so we called the race early in the day, rather than m ake eve r yone hang around until midnight trying to get the race run." All tickets will be honored at the resheduled event. For more information call: 916/920-2760. Due to the cancellation of the Sacramento Mile, all of the Grand National Championship competitors found themselves with nothing to do. While nearby Valley Springs, California, resident Chris Ca rr was able to simply drive home, most of the racers had to scramble to change their travel plans. "Well, it loo ks like we're spending a week in Cali," said four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker, who headed for the nearby shopping mall to get out of the rain. "I'Il just have to change my plane tickets and find a place to stay." Parker looked 10 years younger at Sacramento, as he'd shaved off his familiar moustache and appeared much leaner than he did towards the end of last season. "I couldn't figure it out for a whole day," said Parker's former Harley-Davidson teammate and Michigan neighbor, Kevin Atherto n. "I couldn't figure out why he looked so . different! He's had that moustache for as long as I can remember. " We predict that Parker's new look is a si g n of a rejeuvenated attitude, and of his determination to win his fifth championship. Cycle News Rider of t e Month: Ezra u k AT ~ he yea r may be jus t one third over , bu t one AMA title ha s al ready been decided . At the April 23 Dallas Supercross, Team Suzuki's Ezra Lusk became the first ride r of 1994 to win an AMA National Cham pionship - the 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross Championship. "Yogi" didn 't win at Dallas; that honor went to teammate Jimmy Button. In fact, Lusk d id n't w in either of the two April rounds, bu t after topping five of the first six events, Lusk hung on and did what it took to put the finishing touches on the series title. As the first AMA champion of '94, Lusk is our pick for the April rider of the month. With one round of the 125cc National Championship MX Series completed, the Georgian is currently tied for second in the point standings and should be a threat for that title as well. e . ""'" 0\ ~ -.:i ~ "<::' .-::; 2 Schwantz wins Japanese Grand Prix uzuka and Schwantz - the two seem to go hand in hand. World Champion Kevin Schwantz (right ) won his first 500cc Grand Prix of the 1994 season at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan, on April 24, marking the fourth time in the last seven years tha t the Texan and his Suzuki have won the Japanese GP. Schwantz finished 3.474 seconds ahead of HRC's Mi ck Dooha n with the Australian's teammate Shinic hi Itoh completing the winner's rostrum via his third-place finish. Pole-sitter Luca Cadalora and the Marlb o ro Yamaha fi nishe d fourth, with Schwan tz's teammate Ale x Barros finishing fifth . Yama ha 's Toshihiko Honrna, HRC's Alex ·Criville, Ducad os Honda's Alberto Puig, and Cagiva's John Kocinski and Doug Chandler rounded out the top 10 finishers. Japanese teenager Norifurni Abe, a wild-eard rider on a Honda NSRSOO, had been disputing the lead with Schwantz before crashing in the closing stages of the race. Schwantz broke the lap record twice in the race; on the sixth lap while coming back -from a mediocre start, and again on the 17th go-round. Doohan's second-place finish vaults him past Kocinski and in to the lead in the World Championship point standings. Doohan now has 61 points to Kocinski's 52, with Schwantz's 48 points putting him third in the series standings. . The 250cc Japanese Gra nd Prix was won by Japan's Tadayuki Okada. The Kanemoto Honda rider topped Marl boro Team Pileri Honda's Loris Capirossi by a scant .128of-a-second in the 19-1ap, 69-mile race, with HRC test rider Tohru Ukawa finishing third, just behind Capirossi. World Championship leader Max Biaggi finished fourth on the Chesterfield Aprilia, with Honda's T. Aoki finishing fifth. AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion Jimmy Filice was involved in a three-rider crash on the opening lap of the Grand Prix; fortunately, the Marlboro Rainey Yamaha rider was uninjured. "I got a great start and was right with (Tetsuya) Harada going into tum one. I guess I was 12th at least," said Filice, who started from 17th on the grid. "But then it looked like (Adrien) Bosshard grabbed too much front brake or ran onto a white line. He went down, collected (Wilco) Zeelenberg and then me. It was a great shame. I wanted a result here bad." Biagg i's point lead has been cu t to seven points, with the Italian now leading Okada, 63-56. Capirossi is third in the standings with 52 points. The 125ccGP was won by ,FCC Technical Sports' Takeshi Tsujimura with the Honda rider beating countryman Kinya Sakata and the factory Aprilia by only .67D-of-a-second. Japan's H. Nakajyo finished third on a Honda, with Marlboro Aprilia Eckl's Peter Oettl and Elf Team Kepla Honda's Akira Saito filling up the top five. Sakata leads the World Championship by 29 points over Tsujimura, 65-36. Noburu Ueda , a non-finisher in Japan, is third with 34 points. World Champion Dirk Raudies is 12th in the point standings after not finishing the race in Japan. S After the cancellation of the Sacramento Mile, Will Davis found himself with a tough decision to m a ke. "My wife, Rhonda, is due to give birth to our first . baby in two weeks," sa id the likeable North Carolinan. "She's gonna go to see jhe d octor on Tuesday, and depending on wha t he tells her, I mayor may not stay for the race." After finishing fifth at the season-opening Daytona Short Track, Davis was anxious to take to the track aboard his 'n e w A&R Racing Honda RS7SO. "Well, I may just have to wa it until the Pomona Half Mile to try her.out," he said. Two people who weren't d isappointed w ith the rescheduling of the Sacramento Mile were Team Undo's Johnny Goad and Grand Nati on al Champion Ricky Graham. After reaching an agreement on ly on e week before the race, both Goad and Graham found themselves scrambling to prepare for the race. Goad wa s requ ired to prepare 'a fourth machine for Graham in short order, as the other three bikes were already readied for Larry Pergam and Brett Landes. "I was supposed to put the bike together on Thursday night at the California race shop, but my truck broke down on the way to California and I was a day late," said Goad . "When we were putting the bike together late Friday night, I told the man upstairs that if he would just let it rain, I'd really be ready." For Graham, the extra week gives him time to focus on the task a t ha nd. "Things came together for Johnny and I so late that I was a bit unprepared," said Graham. "This week will give me some extra time to get pumped up." This week, Graham and his trainer, Danny Malfatti, plan to take to the hills in Coalinga, California, aboa rd their motocross bikes in order to prepare for the first 750cc race of the series. "I'm going to do all of the same th ings that I did last year," said Graham. "I have a good feeling about this season." Scheduled for May 1 at Perris Raceway in Perris, California, the 24th Annual El Trail d e Espana will feature many spectator-friendly Expert class exhibition sections. Several of the nation's top trials riders will be on hand for the event tha t raises funds for the United States Trial des Nations team. Competition begins at 9:00 a.m., and the Expert exh ibition is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Two new motorcycles - one Montesa and one GasGas - are included amongst the impressive list of prizes to be raffled off. For more information call: 213/259-6631. Also scheduled to be on hand at the May 1 EI Trail de Espana is former World Championship Series competitor An dre u Co d i n a . Additionally, the Spaniard will conduct a tria ls riding sch ool a t Perris Raceway on April 30, the day before the event. Interested parties should call: 714/642-6414. For those who like to make plans far in

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