Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I: ·]N·· TH·E::WJ·ND.· :~· :.: · : ~ ":\1 : .. .. ...•.., Belgian Stefan Everts (Kaw) scored the overall win at the Austrian 250cc MX Grand Prix, on May 1, in Sittendorf, Germany. Everts fini shed third in th e fir st moto and won the second, while American Donny Schmit (Yam) ended up third overall via 1-7 moto finishes. Third overall was Frenchman Yves Demaria (Hon), whi le Belgian Marnicq Be rv oets (Su z) and defending champ G reg Albertyn (Suz ) rounde d out the top five overall. Everts moved into the series points lead with 115, and Albertyn is second with 107. Sehmit is four points back in third with 103. Am erican Bob b y Moore (Yam) recorded his second 125cc MX Grand Prix w in of the season a t the Argentine GP in Cosquin, Argentina, on May 1. Moore won the first moto and was the runnerup in the second moto. Another American rider, Bader Manneh (Suz) , was second, posting 1-3 moto finishes. Italian Alessi o Ch iodi (Hon), defending champ Pedro Tragter (Suz) and Frenchman Mikael Pichon (Hon) completed the top five, respectively. Moore heads the se ries leaderboard with 96 points, while Tragter is second with 87. Manneh is fourth with 67 points. Ty Davis (Kaw) raced to victory at the Wells-to-Wendover Nationa l Ha re & Hound in Nevada, April 30. Crossing the finish line in second place was Dan Richardson (Hon), while Davide Trolli (Kaw ), Dave Ondas (Ka w) and Jim Gray (KTM) filled out the top five positions . It was the first time in over tw o years th at th ree-ti m e champ Danny Hamel did not win a National Hare & Hound race . In Ne vada, H a m el suffere d mechanical problems throughout the race and eventually dropped ou t approximately 15 minutes from the finis h when the ignition in his Kawasaki failed. Andreu Codina (G-G) was the big winner at the May 1 Trial de Espana, held a t Perris Racew ay in Perri s, California. Co d ina dropped only eight points en route to the Exhibition class win, while run ner-.up Olivier Clamagirand (Fan ) had 13 dabs. Th ird-placed Raymond Peters (Seo) ha d 21 points. Grand National Champion Ricky Graham phoned the Cyde News offices just before presstime, Monday, MayZ, "Since the operations that I had on my ankles this winter, things haven't gotten much better," said Graham, who was a no-show at the Sacramento Mile on Ap ril 30. "Last week, I was in bed for three days because my ankles hurt so bad. I got up and packed everything up the day before the Sacramento Mile, but then two hours later I could barely walk. I have not been able to train the way I should, and I just can't fake it. I would be risking my life and the safety of others if I were to race in this condition. I am seeing a new doctor, and the way I look at it is that things can only get better." Graha m added that he will return to the track aboard a Johnny Goad-tuned Honda RS750 when he is healthy. AMA 250cc National Champion Ji mmy Filice will ride the Team Marlboro Rain ey Yamaha TZM250 in the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez on May 8, as a replacemen t for the injured Kenny Roberts [r., according to team owner Wayne Ra iney. "Kenny's arm is jus t not right yet," Rainey said on Monday, May 2. "We've waited this long, we might as well wait until it's perfect. Jerez is suited more for [imbo. I think he 'll go good there - top seven would be pretty good." Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell set a new superbike track record in the second leg of the opening 'rounds of the World Championship Series at Donington Park in England on Monday, May 2 (s ee Wind Bo x), w ith a lap o f on em inute, 35.02-seconds (94.708 mph). The outright lap reco rd at Donington Park is alm o st three years o l d a nd belongs to Lucky Strike Suz u ki's World Champion Kevin Schwan tz. In winning th e 1991 Bri tish Grand Prix, Schwantz clocked a 1:33.569 (96.05 mph). The crowd of 25,000 that att ended the Donington Park Wo rl d Su p e rb ike round was s li g h tl y larger than the 23,500 for last year's British Grand Prix, which had its sm a llest turnout ever. There were two reasons. The first is that the superb ike round was held on Monday, May 2, a Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom, and the second was that th e tickets are about ha lf the price of a GP fare. Adult tickets for the GP are 25 pounds, ab out $37 .50, w ith a three-day ad vance going for about $60; th e superbike tickets are roughly ha lf that. Plus, th e British are bett er represented in superb ike racing w it h Ca rl Fogarty, Jamie Whitham, Terry Rymer, and a slew of others . If you're plan n ing on attending the British Grand Pr ix on Ju ly 24, make sure to sa ve time for the Donington Collection of racing ve hicles. Among those on d isp la y a re Nigel Ma nsell's Williams, Jackie Ste wart' s Tyrell, Jim Cla rk' s Lo tus, Ne lson Piq uet's Brabham , and the la te Ayr ton Se nn a' s McLaren. Also in th e collection of over 130 s ing le-sea te rs is the Maserati of Juan-Man uel Fangio . Wit h Steve Johnson heading u p the technical crew for Muzzy Kawasaki' s Scott Russell, Rob Muzzy is planning to at tend all of the AMA races, including the fo u r that conflict w ith World Superbike rounds. "Last year, we succeeded in W o rld Super bike an d we fail ed in AM A Su p e r b i ke ," tea m owner Rob Muzzy said a t Don ington Park . "Steve ' s committed here . As long as thi s goes we ll, it gives me the free d om to do the races that conflict. I hate to sa y one championship is more imp ortan t than the other. I have two separate deals: my deal in the AMA series is wi th Kawasaki Am erica and my World Stipe rb ik e deal is w it h Kawasaki Japan, which owns Kawasaki America. I don't th ink last year we d id the best we could do. I don't think la st yea r we supported the ri d ers in America. We took the bestof everythi ng and b rought it here ." If Muzzy ha s to attend the World Superb ike even ts that conflict, Larry Kano, a fou r -y ear Muzzy emp lo yee, wo u ld run t he Am eri can ra ce team . "My hope is to be there," Mu zzy concl ud ed . . Rob Muzzy also p icked up sponsorship from Xerox, through Fuji Xero x, fo r his World Superbike team. The package came together ab out four weeks before the start of the season and Muzzy wasn't certa in whether it in cl u d ed backing fo r the Su zu ka 8Hours. Rumors of the imminent demise of the Yamaha Mot or France team continued unabated at the Donington Park World Superbike round. The team expected to receive abou t $2 million in governmen t :.;:,' " :.'~.;. ' ~ .- : : : ~ . " ;' .:: .. ~ R ssell and Fogarty split win's u in Englan d ' UZZy Ka wasaki's Scott Russell a n d Ducati Corse' s Carl Fogarty (right) split wins in the openin g two races of the World Championship Superbike Series at Donington Park in England on Monday, May 2, but it wa s Foga rty coming away the leader in the cham p ion ship b y vi r tu e of his third-place finish in the second leg. Fogarty dre w first blood, winning the first race of the season, a result that was well rece ived by the partisan cro w d of 25,000 on a sunlit day in the British Midlands. "There's no better race to w in all year," Fogarty said after comin g ou t on top of a fou r, then five-wa y battle for the lead. The Briton led the race in the opening stages, givin g way to Fast by Ferracci's Troy Corser on the 12th lap . A few laps later, Team Ducati Tardozzi's Fabrizio Pirovano took the lead with Fogarty taking it back for good on the 18th of 25 laps. From then on he was able to inch away, his margin never great, but enough to win the first leg by 1.33 seconds. Castrol Honda's Aaron Sligh t finished second after working his way up from a bad start. He moved into third on the 22nd lap, pa ssing Russell, then took over second from Pirovano a lap later. Pirovano would finish third with Russell, who never led the race and struggled wi th suspension problems on both ends, finishing fourth . "The bike w ouldn't tum. It was un dersteering on both ends," Russell said . Corser crashed two laps from the end while in second, after running into the back of Slight going into the first-gear Melbourne Hairpin . He was ou t of the race, bu t unhurt. . "1 was ha ving trouble getting thr ough the chicane" Corser said. "1 was making up . ground on him into there. I went wide and I was turning in wh en Aaron lost a gear or closed the throttle and I went into the back of him." Corser picked the bike up , but the gearshift lever ha d broken and he was out of the race - though he did have the small consolation of setting the fastest lap of the race. Team Duca ti Tar dozzi 's Giancarlo Falappa was fifth, with New Zealan der Simon Crafar sixth on the Rumi Ho nda RC45. Though Slight put the new H onda RC45 on the podium in its debut, his teammate Doug Polen had far less success. After qualifying 17th, Polen wasn't able to significantly mount a ch ar ge and ended up n inth, 51.67 seconds behind the w inner due to unspecified engine troubles that sapped his accelera tion. "We ha d trouble w ith the eng ine in both legs," Polen said after finishing eighth in the second leg. "It's been something we've been going through all week. It happened to Aaron (Slight) yesterday. We thou ght we ha d it fixed." It also appeared tha t Polen was having trouble under braking. Russell's Muzzy Kawasa ki teammate Terry Rymer crashed early on in the Old Hairpin, suffering deep lacerations on his right elbow. He was taken to a local hospital for examination of a possible pelvic injury. . The second leg wen t to Russell, the Georgian leading most of the race, only losing it briefly during the middle part of the race when he tho ught his engi ne was tying up. Once he realized it was n' t, he p u t his hea d down, 'forged back in fro n t and was untouchable, pulling away to win by 3.72 seconds after 25 laps around the 2.5-mile Donington Par k circuit. After missing on the set up in the first leg, the Muzzy Kawasaki crew got it right in the second and Russe ll se t a new superbike lap record on the 22nd of 25 laps. . Fogarty was an early second, then led, before dropping back to third With eight laps to go after a few ha rrowing momen ts. Sligh t took the spot back and p ut in another sparkling finish for the Honda, giving it a pair of second s for the da y. Corser finished fourth in the second leg, never up to his first leg pace but well clear of Giancarlo Fala ppa who again fifnished fifth, one better than Crafar. Brian Morrison was seventh, with Doug Polen struggling to finish eighth. After two rounds of the championship, the top three riders are each separated by one point. Fogarty has 35, Slight 34, and Russell 33. For compete coverage see ne xt week's issue of Cycle News. . M subsid ies for losing th eir toba cco spo nsorship two years ago, but will only get about a quarter of that. It 's exp ected that 500cc ri der Bernard Garci a a nd 125cc rider Frederic Petit w ill ge t the axe, possibl y after the Spanish GP at Jerez, with 250cc World Champion Tets uya Ha rad a ca rrying on. Ha rad a ' s bac kin g is from the Yamaha factory so there ' s some q uestio n wheth e r h e would con tinue to carry Yamaha Mot or Franc e colors. In an effort to close the gap be tween the Ducati V-twins and the four-cylind ers, new m inimum weight rules ha ve bee n adop ted for the 1994 World Su perb i ke s eason. Twin-cylinder machines gain five kilos (11 pounds), up to a minimum weight of 145 kilos (319 po u nd s ). Four-cylinder b i kes drop five kilos and now must weigh 160 kilos (35 2 pounds). The ne w Honda RC45's are right on the limit, w ith the Muzzy Kaw asaki s just above it. Th e World Superbike Championship h as picked up new sponsorship from Ford and Sarema, an Italian company w hich makes cas h re gist ers, for 1994. Th e series was sponsored by Victors last year . Changes may be afoo t in the World Championships. The asse ts for Banesto, the Spanish bank tha t had a significant interest in Dorna, the sp orts promotion agency that controls the Grands' Prix, C1. were put up for a sea led bid auction. 0\ The bids were recently unsealed and .... th e assets were won by Banco Sa ntander, a conservative institution. They said they would d ivest themselves of D oma so it has been put up for sale. There is no immediate word on how it w ould affect the World Champ ions hips.

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