Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Georgian Billy Liles (Hon) used consistent 3-3 moto finishes to take his firs t overall win of the year at the controversia l 500cc World Championship MX Grand Prix in Arco di Trento, Italy, on May 29. Finishing second overall wa s New Zeal an d 's Shayn e King (Kaw). Swede Marcu s Hansson (Hon) and Belgian Joe l Smets each won a rnoto, but were out of the points in their other outings . Hanss on was third overall, Smets fourth and Italian Franco Rossi (Hon) fifth. Defending ch ampion Jacky Martens crashed in the first moto and broke the silencer off of his Husqvama four-stroke, but still finished second . Other teams accused officials of barring them from filing a protest - for Martens riding without a silencer - until time had run out to do so, and Martens' firstmoto score was allowed to stand. Martens crashed in moto two and dropped cut of the race, but is third in the point standings. Randy Hawkins (Suz) won round six of the AMA National Championship Reliab ility Enduro Series in McArthur, Ohio, on May 28-29. Hawkins beat DayOne leader Guy Cooper (Suz), Duane Conner (Yarn) and Fred Andrews (Yarn ). Po ints leader Rodney Smith (Suz) finished fifth. Hawkins moved to wi th in n in e poin ts o f Sm ith in th e p oi nts ch ase, 126-135. Tw o roun ds remain in the series. Jimmy Filice (Yarn) won his deb ut race in the Spanish Open Ducados Series in Jerez, Spain, on May 29. Filice top ped Manuel Gib ernau (Yarn) and Osca r Sainz (Yarn) to win the race on h is Wayne Rainey-owned Yamaha TZ250. Th e 125cc race at Jerez was wo n by Spaniard Jorge Martinez (Yarn). Ameri cans Kurt is Roberts (Yarn) and Tommy Hayden (Yarn) finished 15th and 22nd, res p ecti v ely . Nicky Ha yd en (Yarn) failed to complete the first lap . Japanese road racer Toshihiko Honma will ride th e Team Marlboro Rai ne y Yamaha TZM250 in the German Grand Prix at Hocken heirn on June 12. Honma will take over for Jimmy Filice, who is con testing the Spanish Open Ducados Series on Rainey's team, while Kenny Rob erts Jr. continues to recover from his broken arm. The AMA 600cc National TT , scheduled for the Castle Rock Fairgrounds in Castle Rock, Washin!lton, on May 28, was ra ined o ut. Th e race has been resc hed uled for Sat urday, July 15. As was the case wi th the ori ginal dates, there will be a Pro-Am TT on the nigh t befor e the National. Jo h n Win cewi cz (W-R) won the Pro-Am TT the nig ht before the rained out National. Fuel tests performed by the FlM following the World Championship Superbike Series ro und in Donington Park, England, on May 2, fo und th e Ca str ol Honda of Aaron Slight not in acco rdance with the F1M Road Racing Technical rule that sta te s th a t " the to tal diene content shall be lim ited to tw o percent maximum." Slight's Honda had fuel which contained a 20.3% to tal diene content; 600cc Supersport ri de r Rachel Nicotte was also found to be in violation of the rule as his Hond a CBR600 con ta ined fu el which had a 10.6% total diene conteni. Slight has appealed the decision and the international Jury will judge the case sometime in June. If the appeal is denied, Slight will likely lose the points he gained for his second-place finish in England . Rider opinon of the recent rule change in the AMA U.S. Superbike National Champ ionship Series, w hich will require all superbikes - both twin cylinder and four-eyli nder - to carry a miniurn weight of 355 pounds, is mixed. Team Mirage's Dale Quarterley doesn 't think the addition of 20 pounds to the Ducati V-twins will make much of a difference: "Put it this way, I weighed 100 pounds more than Doug Polen when I won Mid-Ohio las t year - yo u tell me . what 20 pounds will do," said Quarterley, who won Mid-Ohio last year on his Kawasaki. "They are really only taking away about three horsepower." Dave Sadowsk i, who rides a Ducati backed by the Desmo group, says he'll have to add 13 poun ds to his privateer Ducati which currently weighs 342 pounds. . " I' ll have to go on a d iet right now," Sadowski said. "It'll make a difference. Where are we going to put it (the added weight)? At a place like Loudon, it'll make a big difference. I don't th ink Elkhart (Road America) will be that big of a deal." Like rid ing your motorcycle? Like baseball? If so, you might want to join the 20 Southern California Yamaha deal erships who will host the fi rst- e ver Southern California Yamaha Dealers Angels Ride. The June 5 ride will start Cycle News Rider of the Month: . Scott Russell ~F our wins, a second and a fourth-place finish in the opening three rounds of the World Superbike Championship hav e netted defending World Champion Scott Russell (right) a commanding 31-point lead over his near est rival in the World -it Championship point standings. Not a bad month for the Georgian, who becomes the Cycle News Rider of the Month for May. Russell's championship defense began on May 2 in Eng land, wh ere the Muzzy Kawasaki rider overcame a first-leg suspension problem to finish fourth. With the problem fixed, Russell went out and won the second race, leaving Donington Park with 33 points and third place in the point standings. The series then ventured to Hockenheim, Germany, a week later for the second round of the series and Russell was perfect, taking wins in both races and leaving with the championship points lead. On May 29, Russell tallied a 1-2 result in Misano, Italy (see " In The Wind sidebar) to take complete control of the series standings, 110-79, over New Zealander Aaron Slight. e . o::t< ~ ...... ... 00 S ... ....... 2 R ssell, Falappa u s lit wins in Italy_ . D efending World Champ ion Scott Russell and Italian Giancarlo Falappa (right) battled each other for 50 laps in hot and dry conditions at the Santamonica Circuit in Misano, Italy, on May 29, with the pair ultimately splitting wins in the tworace event. In the first race, it was Russell and the Muzzy Kawasaki taking the win by 14 seconds after Falappa was forced to slow when his Ducati started ha ving ge arshift problems. Castrol Honda 's Aaron Slight managed to hold off Ducati-mounted Stephane Mertens for third place. Local hero Mauro Lucchiari rode his Ducati to fifth place. The second leg saw Lucchiari lead for three-quarters of the race before Falappa took over. Russell, who earned his third pole position in a row for the race, also moved by the young Italian'in an effort to catch Falappa, and at the checkered flag it was Falappa by just two-tenths of a second. Russell was second with Lucchiari third, Slight fourth and Carl Fogarty, in his first race since breaking his arm, took fifth. Texan Doug Polen had a rath er forgettable weekend, the Castrol Honda rider battling his Hockenheim injuries to finish 12th and 15th in the two races. Russell now holds a commanding 31-point lead over Slight in the championship poin t standings. Falapp a moves to third with 72 points while Fogarty and Polen are tied for fourth with 46 points each. at 20 participating dealerships, whe re coffee an d do nu ts will be offered, before moving on to Yamaha headquarters in Cypress, California. Under a police escort, the enitire group will travel to Anaheim Stadium in Ana heim, Californ ia, for a California Angels baseball game. Customers who purchase the special Yama ha Angels package will receive two tickets, a parking pass and a commemorative T-shirt for $17. For more in formation contact a southern California Yamaha dea ler. Registration packets for the Love Ride . 11 will become available on August 20 at Harley-Davidson of Glendale and o ther Harley-Davidson dealers in Southern California. For the third yea r in a row , a registration kick-off party is planned at H-D of Glendale from 11:00 a .m .-1 :00 p.m. Celebrity guests are expected to be joined by at least 500 motorc yclists. Stanley Mousee, the rock pos ter artist who de sign ed the Love Ride 10 poster, will be on hand to unveil his Love Ride 11 poster and to sign copies. Now en tering its second d ecade, the Love Ride rema ins the largest one-day motorcycl e fund -raising even t in the wo rld . In 10 years, the event has raised over $5 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. For more information call 818/ 246-5618. Superbike World Champ ion Scott Russell recentl y tried his ha nd at an other typ e of high-speed two- whee led com pe tit ion , but the Geo rgian 's resul ts weren't quite as imp ressive. Mou nte d aboard a factory-backed Yeti mou nta in bike, Russell competed in the Pro/ Elite downhill class at the May 22 opening round of the NORBA National Champions hip Series in Helen , Geo rgia, an d finished 67th in a field of 76. "I thin k he might have had trou ble catching anyone's draft," joked John Parker, owner of Yeti Cycles. "Scott did a good job, though , considering that it was his first race." Hinds Motorsports in Columbus, Ohio, will host its second annual Performance Rid ing Scho ol and practice session at the Mid-Ohi o Sports Car Course in Lexingt on, Ohio, on Monday, Jul y 18, the day afte r the AMA U .S. Superbike National Ch ampi ons hi p round at the same facility. In addition to the school, Hinds will also host a dealer ride to the race track on Sunday, July 17, which will offer participants a private corra l in wh ich to park and wa tch the races. Hinds will also host its fifth annual Racer s Night on Thursd ay, July 14 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with racers from Mu zz y Kawasaki, Fast By Ferracci Du cati, Vance & Hines Yamaha an d Team Mirage on hand to sign autographs. For more information call Joyce Hinds at 614/267-0318. The fourth annual Shawn Mc Donald Challenge Road Race for Safety will be held on June 12 at Seattle International Raceway in Kent, Washington. With the help of Washington state motorcycle dealers and the racers ga thering pledges, organizers are hoping that the event will raise in excess of $12,000 for the Spinal Cord Society, a non-profit organization that researches spinal cord inju ries. For more informa tion on the race o r don at ions, co n tact Sh awn McDonald at 206/957-4487. California Gov ernor Pet e Wilson recentl y announced his appointment of AMA District 36 Pre sident Cli ff Gidden to the position of Deputy Director of the Off-H ighwa y Motor Vehicl e Recreation Division of the California Department of Parks and Recreation . The Depu ty Director p osition is the highest position within the OHV Divisio n of State Parks, an d Glidden will manage the entire California State OHV progr am, includ ing the State Vehicular Recreatio n Areas. Accord ing to the California Mini Road Racing Associa tion (CMRRA), ESPN2 will be on hand to videotape its races at Lake Perr is Racewa y in Perr is, California , on June 23. In an effort to attract m o re ri ders, CMR RA is offe ring a "chance to be a star - at no cost to you." For more information call 909/ 674-2007. The opening rou nd of the World Championship Road Race Series from Eastern Creek, Australia , is schedu led to air on ESPN on Friday, June 3 at 1:00 a.m. Eastern tim e (10:00 p .m. Pacific). The second round from Malays ia is scheduled to run on Frid ay, June 17 at 1:00 a.m. Eastern, with the Japanese roun d sched uled for Tuesday, Jun e 21 at 9:00 p.m Eastern . The Spani sh round of the series will air on Thursday, June 30 at 9:30 p .m. Eastern. Dave De spain will

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