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/127673
Kevin Windham (Kaw) swept the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at the 27th Mammoth Mountain MX, held in Mammoth Lakes, California, on June 23-26. Windham ran away from Mike Healey (Yam) and Shaun Kalos (Suz) in the 125cc division, and topped Ty Davis (Kaw) and Ron Lechein in 250cc action. Davis romped away the winner in the 500cc Pro class, besting Lechien and Buddy Antunez (Kaw), and also won the Sound of Thunder Four-Stroke class. Doug Dubach (Yam) was the Vet Pro class winner over Rex Staten and Willy Musgrave (Hon), while Ricky Carmichael (Kaw) topped the Mini Pro class over Jiri Dostal (Suz) and Josh Tarantino (Yam). Rodney Smith (Suz) scored the overall win at the Trask Mountain lSDE Qualifier in McMinnville, Oregon, on June 25-26. Finishing second was David Rhodes (Kaw), while five-time National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins (Suz), Scott Summers (Hon) and Steve Hatch (Suz) rounded out the top five overall. The event marked the secondto-last round of the AMA National Reliability Enduro Series, with the final round to be held in Speedsville, New York, on July 9-10. Shortly thereafter, the AMA will choose the riders who will represent the U.S. on the Trophy and Junior World Trophy teams , as well as the Club teams, for the September 2025 International Six-Days Enduro in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Road racer Mark Kowalski (Yam) scored his best career finish with a victory in the 13th Annual Kawasaki Superbike Challenge, held at Shannonville Motorsport Park in Shannonville, Ontario, Canada, on June 26. Kowalski beat Don Munroe (Kaw) and Neil Jenkins (Yam) in winning the 16lap, 4O-milerace. Road racer Aaron Lanningham, 31, who suffered head, neck and internal injuries in a crash at the AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship round at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire on June 26, has been upgraded to satisfactory condition and has been taken out of the intensive care unit at Concord I' Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire, according to a hospital spokesperson. According to reports from Europe, Wayne Rainey has signed Norifume Abe to contest the 250cc World Championship Road Race Series for Marlboro Team Ra iney, beginning with the Czechoslovakian round of the series on August 21. Reportedly, Abe will then make the move to the 500cc class in 1995, riding a Marlboro-backed Yamaha YZRSOO. Abe is currently contesting the All-Japan Superbike Championship on a Blue Fox-backed Honda RC45, and his last race with the team will be the Suzuka 8-Hour on July 30-31; Abe will team with Satoshi Tsujimoto at Suzuka. The young Japanese star impressed many including Rainey - with his ride in the Japanese 500cc GP at Suzuka earlier in the year when he ran at the front of the pack w ith Kev in Schwantz and Mick Doohan before crashing out of the race while lying second on the final lap . With the Suzuka 8-Hour conflicting with the eighth round of the AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship Series at Brainerd International Raceway on July 30-31, most of the top Americans will miss the race . Defending race winner Scott Russell will team with his Muzzy Kawasaki World Superbike teammate Terry Rymer for the race; World Endurance Champion Doug Toland will ride an RC45 with Japan 's Toshiki Kunimatsu; Doug Polen will team with New Zealander Aaron Slight; and Thomas Stevens will skip Brainerd to ride alongside Japan's Akira Yanagawa on a Suzuki GSXR75OSP. Pour-time World Champion Eddie Lawson will conclude his motorcycle racing career at the Suzuka 8-Hour. The Californian will ride a Yamaha YZF750 with Japan's Yasutomo Nagai on the number-one factory Yamaha team. The race will be Lawson's second motorcycle road race of the season, his first be ing the Daytona 200 where he fin ished third on a factory Yamaha. "This is my last race on a bike," the 36-yearold Lawson said . "In one sense I'm looking forward to my last race, and hopefully going out with a win. I'm also Cycle News Rider of the Month: Steve Morehead W 2 it h 20 years of Grand National Championship Series competition under his belt, one might expect veteran Steve Morehead (right) to be slowing down in anticipation of his retirement from racing. Think again! At the age of 38, Morehead is presently en joying his most successful series in several years . After a three-year dry spell, the Findlay Flyer raced home the victor at last week's Dallas Half Mile, then carried his momentum to his home venue - the Lima Half Mile on June 25. After a race-long, knock-down-drag-out battle with Will Davis, Morehead nabbed his second-eonsecutive win, making him the undisputed choice for Cycle News Rider of the Month. . Morehead now has a firm grasp on third in the series point standings, trailing only factory Harley-Davidson riders Chris Carr and Scott Parker in the points tally. Morehead's 19th career National win moved him into a tie with Gary Scott and Joe Leonard for seventh on the all-time win list, and He maintains his ranking as the fourth-ranked . :ci¥ ~l'.~cer. Only Jay Springsteen, Bart Markel and Scott Parker have won more half ~ Doohan goes Dutch for fourth strai ht 500cc GP win H RC's Michael Doohan won his fourth-straight 500cc Grand Prix and his fifth of the season in the seventh round of the World Championship Road Race Series, held in Assen, Holland on June 25. The Australian now leads the championship by 42 points as the series reached its halfway mark, with seven races left to run. Doohan ended up topping the Lucky Strike Suzuki of Alex Barros by 1.9 seconds at . the end of the 75-mile race, after having passed the Brazilian for the final time only two . laps from the finish . Third place went to HRC's Alex Criville, with fellow Spaniard Alberto Puig finishing fourth on the Ducados Honda Pons entry. World Champion Kevin Schwantz rode with a light cast on his left hand after dislocating bones in his wrist during a qualifying crash two da ys prior to the Grand Prix. The Lucky Strike Suzuki rider managed to pass Cagiva's Doug Chandler on the final lap to secure fifth, with Chandler hanging on to finish a season-best sixth . Marlboro Yamaha 's Daryl Beattie was seventh, six seconds clear of Cagiva's John Kocinski, who ran off the track at midrace distance while dicing with Schwantz. Marlboro Yamaha ' Luca Cadalora and Team Roc's Bernard Garcia rounded out the top-10 finishers. With his 15th 500cc GP career victory, Doohan now leads Schwantz by 42 points, 161-119, after seven of 14 races. Kocinski is third with 87 points, just four clear of Criville's 83. Fifth-placed Barros is only two points behind with 81 points. The 250cc Grand Prix was won by Italian Max Biaggi on the Chesterfield Aprilia. Biaggi ended up topping Kanemoto Honda's Tadayuki Okada by almost 29 seconds to win his third GP of the season. Dutchman Wilco Zeelenberg finished third in his home GP on the DC Racing Honda. German Ralf Waldmann was fourth on the HB Honda, with Nobuatsu Aoki finishing fifth on the Rheos Jha Honda. Former World and National Motocross Champion Jean-Michel Bayle had his bestever finish in a 250cc GP when he crossed the line in sixth place. Bayle was running in second place as he started the final lap, but a big slide forced him to drop back. The Frenchman was then forced off the track in the final chicane by Aoki, who pushed him even further behind - still, there was less than a ·second separating Bayle from secondplace finisher Okada. Biaggi has a 12-point lead over Okada. Loris Capirossi, who crashed out of the race when he couldn't avoid the fallen Tetsuya Harada, is now 26 points behind Biaggi. Dorlano Romboni, who also crashed in Assen, is fourth with 93 points while J.P. Ruggia holds down fifth with 78. Japan's Takeshi Tsujimura won the 125cc Grand Prix on his FCC Technical Sports Honda RSl25, narrowly beating the Team Aspar Cepsa Yamaha of Spaniard Jorge Martinez, the L.S. Zwafink Racing Honda of Leek Bodelier and the Team Semprucci-Krona Aprilia of Kazuto Sakata, with 1.3 seconds covering the top-four finishers. Sakata continues to lead the World Championship point standings over German Dirk Raudies, a non-finisher in Holland, 134-80. The next round of the series is scheduled for Mugello, Italy, on July 3. happy because I can concentrate fully on my car racing. On the other hand, I'll be leaving behind a lot of memories. I have mixed emotions. I proved I can win in motorcycle racing. Now, I want to move on to cars. Maybe there is a chance at an Indy Car drive and that would be fantastic. I'll take it one step at a time, be very realistic about it, and . try to be competitive in Indy lights first before thinking about the future." lawson finished third in the Portland International Raceway round of the Indy lights Series and sits third in the championship point standings. Other highly favored teams for the Suzuka 8-Hour include the number-one Suzuki squad of Brazilian Alex Barros and Australian Peter Goddard and the lead AM/PM-backed Honda team of Shinichi Itoh and Shinya Takeishi. There have been 409 foreign entries confirmed for the '94 International Six Days Enduro, which will take place on the John Zink Ranch in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, on September 20-25. Among the 31 countries planning to participate are: Tunisia (3 entries), Japan (3), Brazil (9), Chile (12), Costa Rica (6), the Czech Federation (16), Ireland (6) , New Zealand (3) and Portugal (6). Australia is the foreign country with the most entries, at 38. Canada has entered 37 riders, while France and Great Britain both have 33, and Italy has 28. Also impressive is Mexico, with 25 entries. The Tulsa Trail Riders - host of the approaching lSDE - have exceeded their goal of 400 volunteer workers for the event. Due to lack of parking and lodg- ing, many of the extra volunteers may only be used as back-up. However, the Trail Riders say that they are still looking for volunteers who speak a foreign language (especially French), to serve as interpreters. Those interested should fax 918/2~222. A street festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18, in Sand Springs' downtown triangle, in conjunction with the lSDE. The festival will highlight Oklahoma's culture, and will feature arts and crafts, as well as food concessions. A parade will march. through the street festival at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and opening ceremonies will follow the parade at 7:30 p.m. Two rodeos will be held on Sunday. Spectator ticket prices have been announced for the ISDE. An event p - for the entire event and fina motocross - costs $25; weekend passes • for the final two days of the event an the final motocross - cost $15; a pass fo the opening ceremon ies (including reserved seating, food and beverage) costs $20; and a pass for the rod eo goes for $10. Call918/599-8282. Team Mirage - creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle charactesc, and team sponsor of hare scrambles ilce , Tom Norton - are teaming with Kawasaki Team Green to raffle off a Kawasaki KX80 Big Wheel. Tickets are being sold at hare scrambles and cross country events around the country, and the drawing will be held at the September 4 Hoot Owl Hare Scramble in West Glocester, Rhode Island. Proceeds are going to benefit the Make-a-Wish