Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1994 05 18

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127666

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 59

Defending 250cc MX World Champion Greg Albertyn (Suz) turned in 1-2 moto scores to nab the overall win at the May 8 French 250cc MX GP, held in Emee, France. American Donny Schmit (Yam) was second with 4-1 scores, and Yves Demaria (Hon) rounded out the top three with a 2-5 scorecard. American T ram p as Parker (KTM) and Ste fa n Everts (Kaw) rounded out the top five. Scott Summers (Hon) scored a narrow win at the Whiskey Ridge Grand National Cross Country Series round in Sharpsburg, Maryland, May 8. Summers took the checkered flag less than two seconds in front of defending champ Fred Andrews (Yam), while Scott Plessinger (Kaw) finished a close third. Tom Norton (Kaw) and Duane Conner (Yam) completed the top five overall Chance Darling (H-D) was the big winner at the Willow Springs Pro-Am Half . Mile and TT, races, held at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, May 6-7. Darling was the 750cc Pro Half Mile class winner, edging out Roger Thompson (H-D) and Ben Bostrom (H-D). Erik Bostrom (W-R) topped Ricky Smith (W-R) and Jim Rosa (W-R), in the 600cc Pro Half Mile race. Ben Bostrom (W-R) won the 600cc Pro TT main, beating out Jim Rosa (WR) and Erik Bostrom (W-R). George Roeder II aced the 883 TT race, topping Ben Bostrom and Rick Hutchins. Team Suzuki Endurance (Suz) won the rain-shortened WERA Sunoco/Performance Machine National Endurance Series round at Grattan Raceway in Grattan, Michigan, on May 7. Team Suzuki Endurance beat Ohio Superbike Racing (Yam) by seven seconds with R.A. Racing (Suz) finishing third. Series contenders Virginia Breeze Racing and Cycle Motion Racing both crashed out while racing Team Suzuki Endurance for the lead. After three of 11 events, Team Suzuki Endurance leads the championship point standings over Red Hot Racing, ninth at Grattan, 295.09209.38. Belgian Stefan Everts, who stands atop the World Championship 250cc MX Series point standings, will almost certainly race GPs for one more year through 1995 - before coming to race in the United States: At the May 1 Austrian 250cc GP, JHK Kawasaki race team boss Alec Wright, reacted to rumors in the European motorcycle press that Everts was on Honda's shopping list in the U.s. as a possible replacement for Jeff Stanton. "Stefan has a two-year contract with Kawasaki (Europe), with a third-year option. There would be no way for him to get out of the second year of his contract, even if he wanted to. It is written in steel. In any case, Stefan is more than happy with our team. When the contract was written, Mike laRocco had yet to re-sign for Kawasaki USA, and it was left open whether he '(Everts) would ride for Kawasaki in Europe or the USA in . 1995. If laRocco had gone to Yamaha, Kawasaki USA would have signed Mike Craig for one year and Stefan would have switched to the U.s. team in 1995, but LaRocco then signed a two-year deal with them so they don't need Stefan until 1996. We will probably send Stefan to ride the early AMA supercross races next year as part of his preparation for Russell erlect at Hockenheim uzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell (right) took his Kawasaki ZXR750 to a pair of wins in the second round of the World Superbike Series at the ultra-fast Hockenheim circuit in Germany on May 8 - and the Georgian also took control of the World Championship point standings. In the first of the two races, Russell beat Castrol Honda's Aaron Slight by .4-0f-a-second with Muzzy Kawasaki's Terry Rymer finishing third, despite having 4O-some stitches in his elbow as a result of his Donington Park crash on May 1. Adrien Mori11as (Kaw) was fouth ahead of Texan Doug Polen on the second Castrol Honda RC45. Polen was fortunate to suffer only bruises when he crashed during Saturday's qualifying session and was run over by Frenchman Alain Lelan. Russell was involved in a scrap with Ducati teams ters Giancarlo Falappa and Fabrizio Pirovano in the second leg, but the Georgian came out on top for the second time on the day. Pirovano finished second with Polen third and Falappa, who was slowed by a gearshift problems, fourth; Slight crashed out of the race in the early laps. Russell's main rival for the championship going into the German round was Ducati's Carl Fogarty, the high-point scorer at the opening roun d in England. Fogarty, however, crashed in oil during Saturday's qualifying session and suffered a compound fracture of his left wrist The Brit is hoping to be ready for the third round of the series in Italy on May 29. Russell now leads the championship by 22 points over Slight, 73-51. Polen moves into third place with 42 points, seven better than Falappa and Fogarty who are tied for fourth with 35 points each. M the GPs, and so that he can assess the situation for 1996." Wright also said in Austria that he would recommend an official high-profile return to 125cc GP racing for Kawasaki next year. "I will be meeting my boss from Japan in two week's time, and I will recommend that now is the right time for Kawasaki to participate officially again in the 125eeGPs. H Doohan beats Schwantz in S anish Grand Prix H RC's Michael Doohan (right) came out on top after a race-long battle with Lucky Strike Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz in front of lSO,OOO spectators in Jerez, Spain, on May 8. Doohan and Schwantz contested the lead in the 500cc Grand Prix throughout the 27-lap, 74-mile race with the Australian beating the Texan to the line by just .489-0f-asecond. Third place went to Cagiva's John Kocinski with Lucky Strike Suzuki's Alex Barros fourth and HRC's Alex Criville fifth. Ducados Honda's Alberto Puig, Cagiva's Doug Chandler, Slick SO'sNiall Mackenzie, Aprilia's Loris Reggiani and and Padgett's John Reynolds filled the top 10 positions. Neither of the Marlboro Yamahas finished the race as Australian Daryl Beattie pulled in with front tire woes, and his teammate Luca Cadalora was forced out by a flat tire. Doohan's second win in the four-race-old series gives him the championship points lead over Schwantz, 86-68. Kocinski holds down third, just a point behind Schwantz with 67. Cadalora is fourth with 46 and Shinichi Itoh, who crashed in Spain, is fifth with 43 points. A wild 250cc Spanish GP ended with the points standings dramatically close - only eight points separated the top four in the championship. The race was won by Frenchman Jean-Philippe Ruggia on the Chesterfield Aprilia by a scant .095-0f-a-second over HB Honda Italy's Doriano Romboni and HB Honda Germany's Ralf Waldmann. Kanemoto Honda's Tadayuki Okada was fourth, with Nobuatsu Aoki on the Rheous Jha Racing Honda completing the top five. Californian Jimmy Filice crashed the Marlboro Rainey Yamaha on the 12th lap while '<:f1 in 16th place. The championship leader going into the Spanish round, Chesterfield's 0\ Max Biaggi, also crashed out of the race and his rival Loris Capirossi suffered a broken ~ crankshaft on the Marlboro Team Pileri while leading with three laps to go, throwing the championship point standings wide open. Okada now leads the title chase with 69 points, four clear of Ruggia's 65. Biaggi is next with 63 points and Romboni fourth with 61. Capirossi is fifth with 52 points. The 12Sec GP was again won by Kazuto Sakata on the Team Semprucci-Krona Aprilia. The Japanese ace won the race by 6.802 seconds over Marlboro Aprilia Eckl's Peter Oettl, with Sakata's teammate Hem Torrontegui finishing third. Sakata now leads the championship by a whopping 37 points after four rounds; he leads Oettl, 9053. American Tallon Vohland, who is currently. fourth in the World Championship 250cc MX Series point standings, is now using a standard Honda frame rather than the expensive HRC works frame which had already fractured at the Spanish GP, March 20. With only one HRC frame available for each of the Pepsi teammates, Vohland and Yves Demaria, the American had been forced to practice on a standard bike during the week and then switch to the HRC frame, with its altered geometry and characteristics, on the weekend. The' reversion to the standard frame brought immediate results at the Italian GP, April 24, where he was third overall, plus a fifth at the Austrian GP, May 1. Dutchman Edwin Evertsen again qualified a lowly 19th on the factory Honda at the Austrian MX 250cc GP and missed the points in racing despite completing both motos (16-19). "I'm still in pain and have no power in my left arm," said Evertsen. "The collarbone and shoulder injuries from Spain are recovered now, but all of the muscles have wasted away; the doctor has told me that it will be six to 12 months before the pain is gone as I try to build up the muscles again." Southern California dirt track and scrambles legend Eddie Mulder came out of retirement to whip the competition in the Modem Vintage class during the !SP-promoted Willow Springs ProAm TT and Half Mile on May 6 and 7. "A couple of weeks ago I got itchy feet, and I needed to come out and slide around," said Mulder. "I'm just trying to help out the promoter, and it's nice to come out and keep my name alive. Dirt tracking is a good show." KTM's Scot Harden phoned the Cycle News offices to correct a few mistakes written in our test of the KTM 420 and 600 LC4 RX/C dual sport machines. " Both the 420 and 600 are actually classified as 1995 models, not '94s, said Harden. "Also, the 49-state bikes are scheduled to hit dealerships in early June, but the California machine isn't anticipated until late August. Contrary to what was written in the story, the test bikes didn't have the nylon gas tanks they had plastic ones. It has not yet been determined whether or not the California model will be required to be fitted with the nylon tanks - that's what's causing the hold up." H The May 17-18 Xtreme Commotion by th e Ocean 7, held at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, California, will feature an Open Pro class purse that is guaranteed to be at least $1000. Open to bikes of all sizes, the Open Pro class will also feature a $250 bonus for any 125cc rider who finishes in the top three. Additional funding for the Open Pro class purse will come from sales of the Xtreme event T-shirts. Beginners and Juniors race on Saturday, May 17, while the Intermediate and Pro classes compete on Sunday. For more information call 619/484-1441. There have been some revisions to the telecast dates of the AMA Camel Supercross Series which will air on ESPN. The Charlotte Supercross will air on May 13 (from 1:00-2:00 a.m. - all times the same and all are Eastern); the Pontiac round will be shown on May 20; the Minneapolis race will air on May 27; the Dallas Supercross will air on July 8; Seattle will be shown on July 15; San Jose will air on June 4 and the Las Vegas Supercross will be shown on July 29. The trail to the World Individual Speedway Championship beginsfor American riders on May 21 with the running of the Amercm Final at Ventura Raceway. The top 16 Americans will be vying for five spots in the June 12 Overseas Final at Coventry, England. The 1994 World Individual Speedway Championship Final will be held in Vojens, Denmark, on August 20. World Champion Sam Ermolenko is an automatic seed to the World Final.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's - Cycle News 1994 05 18